If you are following the NHL you probably saw where the general managers recently met in Florida. As is normally the case at this time of year, rules of the game were discussed and there is a possibility a few will once again be tinkered with. I guess I am old school and would just like to see things be left alone, However, since the beauty of writing this blog is that I can voice my opinion, I thought I would touch on some rules or changes I would like to see.

1. Get rid of the hybrid icing and go to automatic icing. Hybrid icing puts too much pressure on the linesmen and we have seen a few controversial non-calls that have led to goals and/or great scoring chances.

2. Get rid of the trapezoid. I hate it. Let the goaltenders go where they want to handle the puck. I think it is exciting to watch the goaltenders generate offense by firing the puck up to their forwards - and just as exciting to see the ones who can't handle the puck try it.

3. Eliminate waving off a goal if the puck is knocked in with a high stick. Again, this puts pressure on the officials to determine if the stick was above cross bar level. Our current review system is not used to determine if a puck was knocked in with a high stick. Who cares if the stick is above the cross bar level? Count it as a goal.

4. I am not a fan of the shoot-out. I would prefer 4-on-4 and then 3-on-3. A goal will be scored and you will see some tremendous offensive plays.

5. I would prefer to see the call for deliberately shooting the puck out of play in the defensive zone only be called when the teams are playing even strength. It scares the hell out of me that in some very important playoff game, a team is going to be short- handed and a defenseman who is under pressure fires the puck over the glass and puts his team down another man, leading to the winning goal.

6. Allow a goal if it is kicked in. Again, too much pressure is on the officials to make the determination if there was a kicking motion. These plays usually only happen during a goal mouth play. It is not like a player is going to boot the puck into the net from the faceoff dots. If it goes in off a skate or the player redirects it, who cares? It should be a goal.

It will be interesting to see if any new rules come in to play for next season. The regular season is winding down and there is going to be a lot of jockeying for playoff spots in both conferences in the AHL over the next few weeks.

Thanks for your support and see you at the Nest.

Bruce Landon is president and general manager of the Springfield Falcons. He can be reached by commenting on this blog or sending him an e-mail at blandon@falconsahl.com. For more information visit the team website.